Comments
Widening its portfolio in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment, Ashok Leyland on Thursday unveiled the 6.6-tonne truck Partner and the 27-seater MiTR bus.
The Partner is aimed at city applications such as waste-remover vehicles and trucks with retainers for food transporters, said V. Sumantran, Vice-Chairman, Ashok Leyland.
He told reporters at the launch that the LCV segment, which made up 40 per cent of the commercial transport segment in the country a decade ago, has grown to 68 per cent now. “Last-mile connectivity and easy transport in the city have become important now.”
Priced at ₹8.89 lakh, the Partner commands a premium of ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh over its competitors in the segment. Nevertheless, the edge lies in fuel efficiency, heating ventilation and air-conditioning, and a loading height of 1,044 mm, supposed to provide ease of operations during transport.
“The idea is to provide the sophistication offered by its partner Nissan in its European counterpart Atlas,” said Nitin Seth, Executive Director-LCV & Defence, Ashok Leyland. He added the vehicle would be 8-12 per cent more fuel-efficient than its competitors.
The Partner and the MiTR are the third roll-out from the Ashok Leyland-Nissan Motor India joint venture. Dost, a 1.25-tonne LCV rolled out in September 2011, enjoys a 16 per cent market share, according to Ashok Leyland’s annual report.
This launch also spreads Ashok Leyland across the commercial vehicle spectrum – Dost in the sub-2.5-tonne segment, Boss covering the 8-16-tonne band, Captain above 16 tonnes, and now Partner driving into the 3.5-7 tonnes portion.
The company is also planning to roll out a 16-seater version of the MiTR and a 4-tyre variant of the Partner.
Even though the technology comes from Japan, the new LCV has been built with 97 per cent localisation. They will roll out from Nissan’s plant in Oragadam, and Ashok Leyland’s Hosur factory, both in Tamil Nadu.
The ZD30 Common Rail Engine has been tweaked to suit Indian driving methods and roads, said Sumantran. “The truck is suited for the high gear-low RPM kind of driving seen on Indian roads. This vehicle provides very low torque.”
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.